Background
Human Body Models (HBMs) are detailed computational representations of the human body used to investigate biomechanical response under different loading conditions. Through Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations, HBMs can provide detailed information about deformation, forces, stresses, strains, and potential injury mechanisms within the human body.
Developing an HBM requires the integration of several disciplines. Anatomical geometries need to be identified and reconstructed, different anatomical structures must be combined into a consistent model, and appropriate constitutive models and mechanical properties must be assigned to biological tissues.
In this Master’s thesis, you will investigate and develop a Human Body Model for FEM simulations, covering the modelling process from anatomical data and geometry generation to material characterization and numerical implementation.
Objective
The objective of the thesis is to develop a simulation-ready Human Body Model.
The work will investigate how external and internal human anatomy can be reconstructed and combined, how different biological tissues can be represented computationally, and how suitable material properties can be identified and implemented for FEM simulations.
Scope and Example Tasks
The thesis is expected to include several of the following activities:
- Investigate available anatomical datasets and methods for obtaining human geometry, including CT/MRI data, 3D scans, anatomical databases, and existing geometric models.
- Identify and obtain suitable external human body geometry.
- Identify and reconstruct relevant internal anatomical geometries, potentially including bones, organs, muscles, adipose tissue, skin, and connective tissues.
- Process, clean, scale, align, and combine anatomical structures into a consistent whole-body model.
- Investigate methods for creating high-quality meshes suitable for FEM simulations.
- Conduct a literature review of the mechanical properties of biological tissues and identify suitable experimental data.
- Select appropriate constitutive/material models and parameters for the tissues included in the HBM.
- Investigate how factors such as anatomical location, loading rate, and available experimental data affect the selection of material properties.
- Implement the geometry, mesh, material definitions, contacts, and boundary conditions in an FEM environment.
- Perform selected simulations to assess the numerical behavior and robustness of the developed model.
- Identify model limitations and establish recommendations for future refinement, verification, and validation.
Expected Outcome
The expected outcome is a simulation-ready Human Body Model (HBM), or a substantial first version of such a model, incorporating relevant external and internal anatomy together with suitable tissue material definitions.
An important outcome will also be a documented and repeatable methodology covering the workflow from anatomical data acquisition through geometry processing, meshing, material characterization, and FEM implementation.
The thesis should provide a foundation that can be further developed, validated, and applied in future biomechanical simulations.
For more information please contact
Sigrid Tjernberg,
+46 707839764
sigrid.tjernberg@sigma.se
Kvalifikationer
Who Are We Looking For?
We are looking for a motivated Master’s student, or pair of students, interested in FEM, biomechanics, human body modelling, and computational mechanics.
Suitable backgrounds include Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Computational Engineering, or a related field.
Previous experience with FEM, meshing, CAD/geometry processing, medical imaging, programming, or biomechanical modelling is advantageous but not required.
Vi erbjuder
The thesis provides an opportunity to work on a challenging multidisciplinary problem at the intersection of engineering, anatomy, biomechanics, material modelling, and numerical simulation.
